Manama Seeking to Subdue Dissidents by Raid on Sheikh Qassim’s House: Bahraini Figure
TEHRAN (Tasnim) – A senior Bahraini opposition figure said a recent attack by the Al Khalifa regime forces on the house of the Persian Gulf nation’s senior Shiite cleric Sheikh Isa Qassim was meant to force people to kneel down and retreat from their demands.
Speaking to Tasnim on Wednesday, Rashed al-Rashed said the raid by the Manama regime’s troops on Sheikh Qassim’s home on Wednesday was part of attempts to make the Bahraini nation kneel down and bow to Al Khalifa’s pressures.
He added, however, that the regime’s desire will never materialize given the people’s “resistance” and “steadfastness”.
On Wednesday, Bahraini forces clashed with supporters of Sheikh Qassim near his home. Videos posted online by activists show around a dozen police vehicles and armored cars in Diraz village where the prominent Sheikh lives surrounded by youths maintaining a round-the-clock vigil to prevent his potential arrest. The videos and still images showed the police cars firing tear gas at peaceful protesters in a brutal effort to gain access to the doorway of the house.
Reports also suggest that the forces in Bahrain have handed a warrant to the cleric to appear in court, after clashing with his supporters.
Earlier, Bahrain’s Interior Ministry had alleged in a statement that Sheikh Qassim actively sought the “creation of a sectarian environment” through his connections with “foreign powers,” charges that were widely understood as regime attempts to silence the dissident cleric. He has denied the charges.
Slamming Manama's violent crackdown on anti-government protesters, al-Rashed said the continued crackdown on peaceful dissent and the international community’s silence on the regime’s crimes are the two main reasons for the worsening of the situation in Persian Gulf tiny nation.
Thousands of anti-regime protesters have held numerous demonstrations in Bahrain on an almost daily basis ever since a popular uprising began in the kingdom on February 14, 2011.
They are demanding that the Al Khalifa dynasty relinquish power and a just system representing all Bahrainis be established.
Manama has spared no effort to clamp down on the dissent and rights activists. Scores of people have lost their lives and hundreds of others sustained injuries or got arrested as a result of Al Khalifa regime’s crackdown on anti-regime activists.
